CHICAGO — Through a new national campaign called the Hope Initiative, World Vision is asking American churches to mobilize and take action to combat the global AIDS epidemic. The initiative includes a 15-city United States tour featuring well-known Christian music acts and speakers.
The tour’s first event was held in Chicago on April 1. Speaking to 400 people in suburban Chicago, World Vision president Richard Stearns called HIV/AIDS “the greatest weapon of mass destruction in the world today.” He told the audience that AIDS claims the lives of 8,000 people every day.
Bruce Wilkinson, author of “The Prayer of Jabez,” shared with the crowd how a recent experience in Africa led him to start a new career focused on teaching AIDS prevention in Africa.
“Probably like you, I didn’t want to deal with this issue of AIDS because I was thinking, ‘If they didn’t do what they did, they wouldn’t have it,’” said Wilkinson. He explained that while in Africa, he met many women and children who became infected with HIV by no fault of their own.
The tour will now head to 14 other cities in the coming months including Charlotte, Knoxville, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Boston, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, New York City, Houston, Dallas, Miami and Atlanta with similar programs.
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